POEM: A Tree Shall Be Known By Its Fruit

if you want to know something you must learn to stand perfectly still

what we speak is wind across open fields,
when earth shakes, then everything sits up and takes notice
& even the clematis worries

another way I have heard this expressed is that we are containers
carrying all the things we have ever done

what we aspire to these are paintings we work at in our lives
we splash globs of red here
& a dash of verdigris there
get it on our hands & face
some on the brush ferrel
some on the handle
& some into our mouths

drink it
follow all movement
&
break out the muck boots
muscle & tendons, cartilage & skin & bone root us